PLACERVILLE, CA JUNE 27, 2013: Wildfires sprung up on Tuesday of the Dirt Riot Mountain Series race week in the Northern Colorado Springs area, drawing a lot of media attention to the area. Although the race course at Ram Offroad Park was never in danger, there were a number of drivers and their families that were affected by the wildfires. Local racer, Matt Peterson, owner of Rockware was on the outside of the pre-evac area, several days were spent moving the shop out of harms’ way. Other racers pitched in to help including the Lovell’s who opened their homes and fields to evacuees. The decision to continue the competition in a community where so many were facing mass devastation was left up to the drivers, who in the end were happy for the distraction.

“We were never in any danger, but we needed to be respectful of the local racers,” said Rich Klein, President and founder of W.E. Rock Events. “As always; we Raced! And it was a great race. After seeing some of the pictures from the event, I wonder if any of the cars were ever on the ground! The jumps at the RAM Offroad Park are awesome!”

The Pro 4×4 4400 main race took the field at about 2 p.m. under clear skies, no wildfire smoke in the area. Thirteen cars took the green flag, including a good field of local racers. Drivers that have had great success in this years series began to see trouble and fell out early, Levi Shirley finished out with 10 laps; Brian Shirley with 12 laps; Andrew McLaughlin completed 13 laps. The clear race leader from early on through the finish was Colorado Springs local Roger Lovell, competing for Lovell Rock Racing. Brother Brad Lovell was competing in Bark River, Michigan at the TORC Racing Series and had received his first podium finish of the season on Friday night! Roger followed that up with one of his own on Saturday, making it two for the team that weekend. Colorado would sweep the podium with Hunter Sparrow from Arvada taking 2nd and Ben Swain from Denver taking 3rd. Dustin Isenhour took 4th, Damien Layer took 5th, Matt Lee finished 6th, Texas Tony Arledge finished 7th, Andrew McLaughin took 8th, Todd Seawell took 9th, Brian Shirley ended up 10th, Levi Shirley in 11th and John David took 12th.

The Pro 4500 and 4600 classes had 5 stock and modified jeeps between the classes giving them the opportunity to run their own 2 hour race. The course was fast and fun for these vehicles, although they didn’t jump quite as high as the 4400 class. Alan Johnson would take 1st in the 4500 class, with Shawn Rantz in second and Jesse Bayne on the podium in third. Fourth went to Mitch Funk and fifth went to Russ Rose. The 4600 class winner was Ferris McCollum with Jason Kaminsky taking second and Matt Salyers in third. Fourth went to Matt Peterson and Cody Folsom wasn’t able to complete a lap taking a DNF.

The Stock Trail, Mod Trail and UTV classes all had four participants, so they took the course together, almost. The line up was set to go and the race had begun when Mike VanZyl pulled up with his rig still on the trailer. Mike’s time had begun when he was supposed to leave the line, everyone hollered at him to hurry and he quickly unloaded and strapped himself in his stock Range Rover, leaving the start line several minutes behind everyone else. In the end, Mike took the first place checker for the stock class. Captain Rob Flandro took second, Keith Sach took third and Chris Kranwinkle didn’t finish a lap with a DNF. The Mod Trail Class rocked the laps with winner Ryan Miller completing 6 laps and second Rawlin McGhie and third Israel Estares completed 5 laps. Trevor Ritch did not start.

The UTV race brought out a great group of racers all completing seven laps and finishing within a minute of each other! Billy Briney would take the win with Justin Meador in second and Cottin Rodd in third. Chris Barnett wouldn’t be able to finish a lap taking a DNF.

The next Mountain Series race will be July 6th in Cortez, Colorado in combination with the Southwest Series. This will be the final 2013 race for both series. More information on that race is posted at http://www.werocklive.com/events/dirt-riot-mountain-round-3. Admission is $15 for adults, $5 for ages 8-15, children 7 and under free and Military with ID get $5 off. There are vendors, food and amenities on site, and we encourage you to bring chairs and shade structures.

How To Read Results: Drivers are listed in Starting Order. Column 1 is their Car Number. Column 2 is their Start Time. Top of Lap #1 is their lap time from the START (Total Time on Track from Start of Race), the bottom of Lap #1 is the Adjusted Time of their Actual Lap Time. The following laps are coordinate the same. The Final Time is the Adjusted Total time raced. Next Column is the Total Number of Laps Raced. The final column is the Finishing Order. Winner is determined by the most number of laps completed in the shortest amount of time.

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ADDITIONAL MEDIA LINKS

COMPLIMENTS OF HIGHERGROUND4x4 Alan Johnson:

TEAM RECAPS

Roger Lovell Dominates in Colorado Springs

“We’re back!” exclaimed Roger Lovell after winning the 2nd Round of the Dirt Riot Mountain Series in front of a hometown crowd. Lovell Racing had a banner weekend with Roger nabbing a win and Brad finishing on the podium twice in Bark River.

Roger Lovell piloted the #1 AMSOIL/ Torchmate/ BFGoodrich racer solo this weekend as the team split for double duty. Running on a hometown track has it’s advantages and Roger expressed confidence in tackling the race alone, “On a course like this, you pretty much know the dangers and gotchas. After pre-running, I had a plan and stuck to it.” Roger is no stranger to wins at RAM Off-Road park where in 2007 he took the XRRA National Championship.

Lovell qualified 5th putting him ahead of most traffic. Typical for Roger’s style, the longer the race the faster he becomes. After the halfway point in the race, Roger had a 7-minute lead and finished the race a full lap ahead of the competition. “My family and crew really helped out and the truck ran flawlessly all day.” The win puts Team Lovell in the series lead.

Meanwhile, Brad Lovell was struggling to defend the team’s TORC Pro-Light Championship. At home on the fast tracks Brad immediately set fast time in practice but suffered a catastrophic rollover and minor fire. “We’ve had some disastrous weekends this year and it felt like the start of another.” Brad explained. The crew jumped on the truck and got it patched together in just over an hour enabling Brad to make qualifying. The effort paid off as the team qualified 2nd. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL PRESS RELEASE

Jason Kaminsky and Richard Jenkins with Four Corners 4×4 recently returned from their participation in the W.E.R.O.C.K Dirt Riot Offroad Endurance race held on June 15th. The event took place at Ram Off Road Park located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The course consisted of a little over three miles worth of sandy jumps, tight turns, and high-speed sections along with a few rock crawling obstacles.”This wasn’t an easy race,” reflects Kaminsky. “This was a race of attrition. At one point all five vehicles in our class were temporarily out due to mechanical issues. Those who were able to get fixed quickly and return to racing took home the trophies.” Dirt Riot Endurance racing follows a strict “No-Chase” policy. No outside assistance is allowed, so Kaminsky and his co-driver had to hike back to the pits for tools and parts to repair their broken wheel studs. In the end they completed four laps in the fastest time. The winner completed five laps. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL PRESS RELEASE

RYAN MILLER CAPTURES 1ST PLACE

Ryan Miller captures 1st place in Round 2 of the Dirt Riot Mountain Series at RAM Off-Road Park. Ryan arrived in Colorado Springs with recent tuning changes to the ADS Racing Shocks on the #26 car in anticipation for the numerous jumps on the course. Pre-running would first be done with Karl N Shanelle from ADS to see if any further adjustments were needed. During this time, Ryan approached a table top too fast, overshooting the landing. Landing hard on the front end, Ryan was able to drive the car out of a certain crash. With both of them feeling the impact of the landing, they pulled off course into the pits to take a break.

After a breather, Ryan put in 1 more pre-run lap with his co-driver for the race, fellow racer Alan Johnson. At the driver meet and greet, it was pointed out that the #26 car had a significant coolant leak. Ryan stayed there for the duration of the meet and greet, then worked in a parts store parking lot till late in the night making the necessary repairs to ensure the car was ready to race the next morning.

Come race time, Ryan and Alan would start up front and looked to stay there. Their 1st lap would be the fastest lap time turned in by any trail class car for the whole race. Entering their 3rd lap, still in front and with a considerable lead, the #26 car would experience a flat driver front tire. With no spare on the car, Ryan drove the remainder of the lap on the flat and into the pits. The LetzRoll crew along with Cody Folsom would get the tire changed in little time and the #26 car was back on course. The remainder of the race, Ryan and Alan kept it smooth and out in front all the way to the checkered flag for a 1st place finish.CLICK HERE TO READ FULL PRESS RELEASE

Father’s Day Outing to Dirt Riot Race at RAM Offroad Park

PLACERVILLE, CA JUNE 13 2013: Dirt Riot comes to Colorado Springs, Colorado this weekend at the RAM Offroad Park for the second race of the Mountain Series kicking it off with a Driver Meet and Greet on Friday night at Southside Johnny’s in Colorado Springs. Thoughts have been with the families that are affected by the fires in the surrounding areas. Luckily, these fires do not affect the RAM Offroad Park and the race will be held on Saturday as scheduled. “We have been watching the plumes of smoke from the park as we set up this amazing course. We know a lot of the local families are challenged,” said Rich Klein, President and founder of W.E. Rock Events. “But, the show must go on. Rescheduling is virtually impossible with the amount of races that we produce in a year, and we have multiple racers that travel from out of state. Our thoughts are with the people in the local areas and we extend our event as an opportunity for everyone to come and enjoy a day with their family.”

The course at RAM Offroad Park has been a driver’s favorite for years. It also has one of the best spectator areas, with multiple viewing locations that can give completely different experiences. This course has more jumps than any other course Dirt Riot uses. The two big uphill jumps right off the starting line have been “re-worked” and offer another level of excitement. The big hill climbs combined with big dirt drop offs, twisty canyons and a motocross style track with huge banked corners will keep the drivers very busy driving. Then add in three long straight-aways that the Pro 4×4 4400 drivers will reach max speeds.

There are many drivers coming from all over the western states to compete in this race including, but not limited to, Pro 4×4 4400 drivers Chris Hoyt, Ben Swain, Todd Seawell, John David and Andrew McLaughlin. Pro 4600 drivers local Matt Peterson, Arizona’s Matt Salyers and Colorado’s Jason Kaminsky. Pro 4500 drivers include Rose Russ, Alan Johnson, Shawn Rants. The Stock Trail, Mod Trail and UTV Classes are open to all the local racers. The vehicles only require minimal safety requirements of doors, roof, four point seatbelt harnesses, DOT helmets and two fire extinguishers. Bring out your rig and join Keith Sach in the Stock Mod Class and Justin Meader in the UTV class among many others.

Spectators are encouraged to come and enjoy the day of entertainment on Saturday June 15th. Racing will be on course from 9am to 4pm, with awards immediately following. Admission is $15 for adults, $5 for ages 8-15, children 7 and under free, Military with ID $5 off and there will be 20% off coupons at Southside Johnny’s on Friday night. There are vendors, food and amenities on site, and we encourage you to bring chairs and shade structures. For additional details go to http://www.werocklive.com/events/dirt-riot-mountain-round-2

Dirt Riot is an Endurance Racing series that is composed of 4 series of 3 races that stretch across the country. There are 3 Professional 4×4 classes, a Trail/Sportsman 4×4 class and a UTV class at a standard Dirt Riot race. The classes are built to encourage local 4×4 or UTV participants to join us in a day of fun racing. For registration information go to http://www.werocklive.com/2013-fees-payout.

CLICK HERE to pre-purchase tickets. Please use this method if you would like to use a credit card. There is limited online access at most event sites to process credit cards. These are rain or shine events, no refunds.